MCS ACTIVISM PROJECT
A delegation of MCS activists traveled to Washington, D.C., from Sept. 25-27, to attend “Appalachia Rising,”a national event bringing together thousands of people from around the country on the issue of mountaintop removal mining.
Manhattan Country School’s current and former students Kyle Bartos ('11), Vaughn Simmons ('11), and Janet Ortiz ('10) led a dynamite workshop entitled "Youth Organizing," which introduced the MCS activism program and detailed our work last year around the issue of mountaintop removal coal mining.
An audience of people, ranging in age from 19 to 60, was captivated for the entire 90 minutes of the students’ workshop. Many participants stayed afterward to ask questions and see our student projects as examples of how to inspire their own students in programs based out of Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia.
In addition, MCS students’ work was featured in the "Voices from the Mountains" exhibit in the Georgetown Conference Center in Washington, D.C. We also attended sessions on non-violent demonstrations and a workshop connecting hydrofracking to mountaintop removal mining and other resource extraction processes. The issue of hydrofracking for natural gas was of particular interest to us, because the MCS farm and NYC drinking water would both be affected by hydrofracking in the Catskills.
After two days of learning, we joined forces with thousands of people to call for an end to mountaintop removal mining. The rally began with speeches written by activists Larry Gibson and Judy Bonds as well as songs from across the Appalachians, including Native Americans from Thunder Nation. We marched and sang with familiar faces from our activism adventures last year, including many from West Virginia, the Beehive Collective and Reverend Billy and the Life After Shopping Gospel Choir. We stood on the steps of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, hearing speeches from activist Lorelei Scarbro and younger friends from the Coal River Valley calling for the EPA to do their job.
The march ended at the White House where hundreds of fellow marchers sought to deliver a message to President Barack Obama about the urgency of the plight of the mountains, the water, and the people of Appalachia.
For updates on the activism project of the fifth floor students, check out the MCS Activism Blog.
